Lin suing Grant County

EPHRATA - A former deputy prosecutor is suing Grant County, claiming Prosecutor Angus Lee violated public policy when he didn't re-appoint him.

The attorney for Albert Lin, a former deputy prosecutor, and two-time candidate for the office, filed a civil suit against Grant County in Grant County Superior Court. Lewis Card, Lin's attorney, alleges Lee violated the public policies around whistleblower complaints and legal ethics, interfered with Lin's 2009 campaign and caused emotional distress.

The lawsuit follows a 2010 claim Lin filed with the county asking for $2.5 million.

"My focus has been and will continue to be the successful prosecution of the most serious criminals and the continued effective management of the prosecutor's office," Lee stated in response to the lawsuit. "I will not allow this to distract myself or the office from the job of prosecuting criminals and seeking justice for the victims of crime."

Lin started working as a deputy prosecutor in 1999, and kept the position after the county commissioners unanimously selected Lee as prosecutor in 2009. Lee's appointment followed John Knodell's resignation as prosecutor, after Knodell won an election for Grant County Superior Court judge.

When Lee re-appointed Lin to the position, Lee allegedly told him the appointment would remain effective until he revoked it, according to the complaint. Lin received a promotion and an about $8,000 pay raise within a month of the appointment.

Issues reportedly started roughly a month after Lee and Lin filed for the 2009 election, when Lee asked Lin to review a case involving former administrative assistant Cathleen Neils, according to the complaint.

The case involved an allegation of false reporting made by Elisia Dalluge, according to a Washington State Bar Association complaint. The allegations stemmed from an anti-harassment order former Deputy Prosecutor Teddy Chow obtained against Dalluge.

In a courtroom where Chow was appearing, Neils reportedly saw Dalluge and reported the incident to the Grant County Sheriff's Office, according to an Ephrata police report. When police contacted Dalluge, she allegedly stated she hadn't been served the second order and the judge told her it would be acceptable for her to be in the courthouse.

The deputies spoke with Dalluge, presented a second copy of the order to her and forwarded the report to the prosecutor's office, which was run by Knodell, according to the police report.

Dalluge filed the false reporting case against Neils with Ephrata police in June 2009. The file was forwarded to Lee's office, and Lee forwarded the report to Lin.

Neils previously denied doing anything wrong, stating she was following her responsibility as an employee of the prosecutor's office.

When Lee asked Lin to review the file, Lin consulted an attorney, who informed him it was a conflict of interest to review the case.

"Lee continued to demand that Lin review the matter, threatening Lin with disciplinary action if he did not do so," according to the complaint. "Lin continued to refuse and express his opposition to Lee's demand."

No charges were filed in the case.

The issues continued with Lee reportedly demanded Lin review a second case involving Dalluge in September 2009, according to Lin's complaint.

Dalluge alleged her ex-husband committed perjury, according to the bar complaint. Contained in the file was a letter from Dalluge to the FBI referring to her criminal complaint against Neils.

Lin refused to review the case, believing the reference to Neils created a conflict of interest, according to Lin's complaint.

"Lee continued to thereafter to press Lin to review the matter, advising Lin that failure to do so would be considered insubordination. Lin continued to refuse, asserting each time that he could not review the matter without exposing himself and the prosecutor to discipline by the Washington State Bar Association," Card wrote.

Lee reportedly disciplined Lin twice for refusing to review the case. The first time, he allegedly required Lin to review "assigned case referrals, to review the county's handbook and code of ethics, and, within 30 days, to review the second matter and make a charging recommendation to Lee," according to Lin's complaint.

Lin continued to refuse to review the case, and Lee reportedly disciplined Lin a second time, taking away his right to use to leave for 30 days, according to Lin's complaint. The discipline allegedly affected Lin's ability to campaign.

"The campaign between Lee and Lin was hotly contested, ultimately decided by just 275 votes," Card wrote. "Lin needed to use his annual leave to campaign ... Lee's decision negatively impacted the public interest by giving Lee an unfair advantage over Lin by reducing the amount of exposure the public could have with Lin."

Lee allegedly allowed Lin to use leave for campaign purposes later, according to Lin's complaint.

Lin claimed Lee interfered with Lin's campaign by making him handle 139 cases, 32 more than the deputy prosecutor with the next highest case load, according to Lin's complaint. The amount of cases reportedly limited the amount of time Lin had to campaign.

Problems continued in October 2009, when Lee asked Lin to review a case involved Grant County District Court Judge Richard Fitterer. Fitterer allegedly collided with another car near Quincy but continued driving. The judge was stopped and claimed he didn't know about scraping a pickup truck where the road narrows. He later traded information with the other driver. Fitterer was not arrested or charged.

Lin reportedly refused, telling Lee neither Lin nor the prosecutor's office should review the case, since it would violate conflict of interest rules, according to Lin's complaint. Lin allegedly told Lee to forward the case to the Washington State Attorney General's Office.

"Nevertheless, Lee demanded that Lin review the (case) and threatened Lin that his failure to do so would constitute insubordination and lead to discipline," according to Lin's complaint.

The issues led Lin to file a whistleblower complaint with Grant County, stating the alleged problems Lee was creating for him and the county, according to Lin's complaint.

Lin claims he faced "a number of other actions he deemed retaliatory and harassing," including threatening to take away assistance Lin need to prosecute a case, an order for Lin to keep his office door open at all times, telling him to not speak to the media after a successful case and taking away most and then all of Lin's cases, according to Lin's complaint.

Lin reportedly met with the person investigating his whistleblower complaint on Dec. 4, 2009, according to Lin's complaint. Lin allegedly received a letter from Lee stating Lin needed to "file written notice" to be re-appointed three days later.

The deadline for filing the notice was reportedly on Dec. 4, 2009, when he was meeting with the investigator, according to Lin's complaint. Lin was not re-appointed, and his employment ended on Dec. 4, 2009.

"Lin had no prior knowledge that Lee's letter would be issued," according to the complaint. "He had no ability to apply for re-appointment on Dec. 4, 2009 because he did not receive the letter that day. No decision on his whistleblower complaint had yet been rendered."

Card pointed out Grant County's whistleblower policy prohibits retaliation against employees based on reporting "improper governmental action by Grant County officials or employees," according to Lin's complaint.

The investigation reportedly wasn't completed until May 31, 2010, and Lin received the commissioner's rejection of it on June 8, 2010, Card wrote.

Jeanie Tolcacher, the attorney hired to conduct the investigation, ruled Lee's actions didn't constitute "improper governmental action," according to her investigation.